Elections and governments in 20th century Britain

Some notes

1. The time line is not drawn proportionately - that is, years are not represented by centimetres. The table just marks changes. For a graph showing time proportionately, see below.
2. Horizontal lines mark the division between what are considered different governments in terms of party.
3. Prime Ministers are given in the second column followed by their party and date of appointment. Where a prime minister forms what is regarded as a new government but continues in office, e.g. where MacDonald formed the National Government, the description of the new government is given first.
4. In the "Elections" column, the party which won a majority in the parliament is indicated. "Labour (minority)" indicates that Labour was clearly the winner but did not have an overall majority. Where the outcome was less clear this is noted in more detail.
5. Governments are colour-coded as follows: blue = Conservative, yellow = Liberal, red = Labour, grey = coalition.
6. The second election of 1974 produced a very narrow Labour majority; however the government lost a series of by-elections, leading to the loss of its majority.
7. The date of accession of monarchs is noted in the third column.
8. Note that the appointment of the Prime Minister does not necessarily coincide with an election. Firstly, if the Prime Minister retires, another is appointed who has the House's support: the public elects the House, not the Prime Minister, who is not a President and has no personal mandate from the voters. Secondly, there can be complications even when it is a matter of an election. In 1905 Balfour (Cons.) resigned as PM and Campbell-Bannerman (Lib.) was appointed before the election: Balfour hoped that having to take office would expose divisions in the Liberal Party. In 20th century practice, however, when a parliamentary election produced a clear change of government the prime minister normally resigned (and the leader of the winning party was appointed PM) the day following the election.
9. After victory in Europe in 1945, the Labour Party withdrew from the coalition and an election was therefore held. (Elections had been postponed by agreement during the war.) At this point the war against Japan was still unfinished and it was unclear how long it would last. Churchill formed a "caretaker" Conservative government which held power between the end of the war coalition and the 1945 election.
10. Lord Salisbury is normally regarded as the last Prime Minister in the House of Lords. The 14th Earl of Home technically held office as prime minister for a few days 19 - 23 Oct 1963 as a member of the Lords before renouncing his peerage and entering the House of Commons at a by-election as Sir Alec Douglas-Home. [Return]
11. Devolution: September 1997: referenda in Scotland and Wales vote for devolution; 1998: legislation passed (Scotland Act 1998, Government of Wales Act 1998); 1999: devolved governments elected.
12. The table actually includes the end of the 19th century and the start of the 21st century as well as the 20th century.

Sources for dates: Peter Clarke, Hope and Glory: Britain 1900-1990 (London: Penguin, 1996); Alan Sked & Chris Cook, Post-War Britain: A Political History (London: Penguin, 1990); Encyclopaedia Britannica (Britannica 2001 Standard Edition CD-ROM, 1994-2000); Norhern Ireland Assembly website; Welsh Assembly website.

Graph of the various governments in the 20th century (1901-2000), by parties, spaced proportionately (approximately):

Key:

• Blue     : Conservative & Unionist
• Yellow     : Liberal
• Red     : Labour
• Grey     : the Asquith, Lloyd George and National Coalitions
• Purple     : the Churchill coalition (if you have images turned on, you should see a Union Jack here).

Note the more complicated party history of the first half of the century, as compared to the two-party dominance of the second half.

Graph of the governments since the Second World War, up till 2007:

Key:

• Blue     : Conservative
• Red     : Labour

Copyright © 2003 B. S. Bennett
Last updated 25 November 2008

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